Joannes Aurifaber (1519 – November 18, 1575), born Johann Goldschmidt in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

churchman,

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, and a Protestant reformer. Owing to a similarly-named contemporary, he is sometimes distinguished by the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

Vimariensis or Vinariensis ("of Weimar").

Life

He studied at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

where he heard the lectures of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, and afterwards became tutor to Count Mansfeldt. In the war of 1544–45 he accompanied the army as field-preacher, and then lived with Luther as his famulus or private secretary, being present at his death in 1546. In the following year he spent six months in prison with John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, who had been captured by the emperor,

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

. He held for some years the office of court-preacher at

, but owing to theological disputes was compelled to resign this office in 1561. In 1566 he was appointed to the Lutheran church at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, and there remained till his death in November 1575. Besides taking a share in the first collected or

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

edition of Luther's works (1556), Aurifaber sought out and published at

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century ...

in 1564–1565 several writings not included in that edition. He also published Luther's ''Letters'' (1556, 1565), and '' Table Talk'' (1566). This popular work, which has given him most of his fame, is unfortunately but a second or third hand compilation.

References

;Attribution * *

Literature

* * Robert Stupperich: ''Reformatorenlexikon''. Verlag Max Mohn, Gütersloh 1984, * Helmar Junghans: "Aurifaber, Johannes." In: ''

Theologische Realenzyklopädie The ' (''TRE'') is a German encyclopedia of theology and religious studies. It contains some 2000 articles in 36 volumes. The first installment was published in 1977, the last in 2004. Genesis and editors The ' is published by Walter de Gruyter ...

'' (TRE) Bd. 4, (1979), S.752–755, * Wagenmann, Gustav Kawerau: "Aurifaber, Johannes (Vinariensis)." In: '' Realenzyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche'' (RE), 3. Auflage, Bd. 2, (1897), S. 290–293 16th-century German Lutheran clergy 1519 births 1575 deaths {{Lutheran-stub

Life

See also

References

Literature